Bill Bennett: All I can do is laugh!

[Caligastia]

Originally posted by Berzerker
Caligastia -

Why?

Because it's full of moralists criticizing a moralist for doing something that they won't actually come out and say is immoral because their ideology won't allow them to make a judgement and call it moral.

I never defended Bill Clinton or said gambling was immoral, the point of this thread is to identify William Bennett's hypocrisy. If a certain behavior is wrong because some of us can't use moderation when engaging in the behavior, such as with drugs, porn, non-marital sex, or other "vices", then why is Bennett exempt from that same standard when there are people who cause harm with excessive gambling? Yeah, it's his money, and it's my money if I want to smoke pot or solicit a prostitute. But Bennett wants us put in cages if we do with our money as we see fit. It's called hypocrisy and you're defending a hypocrite.

Is it excessive? Considering how much money he makes, I suspect not. If he has preached against gambling in the past, I will call him a hypocrite.

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by Caligastia
If gambling is not immoral, in what way is he a hypocrite?

Because, as stated above, he provides no justification for the ommission of gambling from his list of "sins," since it shares the same qualities as most of the others.

So are you saying it's immoral to gamble or not?

No, I'm not, for the upteenth time, but according to Bennett's moralising, it should be for him. Why isn't it? Because he enjoys it, so he conveniently doesn't think it's immoral. Except now he's promised to stop doing it, which indicated he did think it was immoral yet did it anyway. You don't see that as hypocrisy?

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by Caligastia
Because it's full of moralists criticizing a moralist for doing something that they won't actually come out and say is immoral because their ideology won't allow them to make a judgement and call it moral.

What the hell does that mean? Who here is moralizing? Calling someone a hypocrite isn't moralizing, it's pointing out that they are inconsistent in how they act versus what they preach. You must be reading selectively, as we've said, time and again, the issue isn't gambling being immoral, it's Bennett's inconsistency in moralising only about those potentially self-destructive behaviors that he doesn't happen to partake in!

Is it excessive? Considering how much money he makes, I suspect not. If he has preached against gambling in the past, I will call him a hypocrite.

Considering Bennett's moralizing on other vices, such as drug use, have nothing to do with whether or not it is actuall "excessive," but rather on its potential to be harmful, his failure to include gambling is inexplicable.

Did I mention how the money he's lost to gambling has gone into the pockets of people who partake in drug-running, prostitution rings, etc.?

[MichaeltheGreat]

Originally posted by Caligastia


If gambling is not immoral, in what way is he a hypocrite?

Bennett's justification for government criminally regulating "morality" is that some people will cause harm to others by acting in excess. This is the chain-smoking, Scotch & water swilling ex-drug czar putting people in the slammer for getting a buzz in a different manner than Bennett approved of.

The rationale behind Bennett's "morality" is that it doesn't matter if you do something he doesn't like and do it in a way that harms nobody - if somebody, somewhere did the same thing to excess in a way that's harmful, then government has an obligation to enforce telling you what you can and can't do with your life.

By Bennett's professed standards, it doesn't matter if his level of gambling losses cause harm - if some dumb **** somewhere gambles away his family's life savings and the money for his daughter's life-saving surgery, then Bennett should also be condemned, because gambling can cause harm to innocent parties. It's the same rationale he's applied to every activity he thinks it's government's God-given business and duty to regulate.

Except, Bennett doesn't apply his standards for everyone else to activities he engages in.
[/QUOTE]

[Caligastia]

Well duh, I think it's pretty obvious that someone isn't going to call something immoral if they enjoy and partake in it. Find me somewhere he has railed against gambling and I'll call him a hypocrite. Until then, no dice.

I think it's so funny that everyone is so quick to call him a hypocrite, yet they won't stand up and say that they consider his gambling morally objectionable.

[Caligastia]

I should point out that I disagree with Bill's stance on many of the issues that have been raised, but unless he spoke against gambling in the past I can't call him a hypocrite.

[Boris Godunov]

Ok, this is clearly over your head.

How is it NOT hypocritical for him to condemn drug use, loose sex, prostitution, etc., based on the fact that some people partake of them to destructive excess, and yet have no problem with gambling, which many people also partake of to destructive excess? Doesn't it strike you as being rather arbitrary in his definition of sin?

I think it's so funny that everyone is so quick to call him a hypocrite, yet they won't stand up and say that they consider his gambling morally objectionable.

Now you're just being dense, whether on purpose or not. Again: it has nothing to do with whether or not gambling itself is immoral by our standards. Capiche?

[MichaeltheGreat]

Originally posted by Caligastia
Well duh, I think it's pretty obvious that someone isn't going to call something immoral if they enjoy and partake in it. Find me somewhere he has railed against gambling and I'll call him a hypocrite. Until then, no dice.

The mere fact that I say anything I do is not a vice, and anything you do which I disapprove is a vice, and you should be punished for it, would be enough to make me hypocrite.[quote]

I think it's so funny that everyone is so quick to call him a hypocrite, yet they won't stand up and say that they consider his gambling morally objectionable.

I think it's so funny that you're so obtuse. Bennett's standard for "morally objectionable" is any activity which someone might do to excess to cause harm to others. By Bennett's nebulous standards, some compulsive gamblers should be considered immoral, because they engage in selfish activities which harm others. Taking that basis, by Bennett's standards, all gamblers should be punished to deter the compulsive ones.

[Caligastia]

To be honest, I know very little about Bill Bennett, except that he is being attacked for gambling - something I don't find morally objectionable - and that he has made his opinions on moral issues public. I would be suprised if he really believes "any activity which someone might do to excess to cause harm to others" is morally wrong for all, because that is idiotic. I'd really like to hear him defend himself on this one.

Only wankers who want to sound intelligent use the word 'obtuse'

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by Caligastia
To be honest, I know very little about Bill Bennett, except that he is being attacked for gambling - something I don't find morally objectionable - and that he has made his opinions on moral issues public. I would be suprised if he really believes "any activity which someone might do to excess to cause harm to others" is morally wrong for all, because that is idiotic. I'd really like to hear him defend himself on this one.

I don't know how many times we can say this:

No one is attacking him over gambling in and of itself. It's about his hypocrisy when it comes to what he decides is and isn't a moral sin.

[Sava]

I'd really like to hear him defend himself on this one

that's just it... he condemned his actions saying he's grown... that's blatant hypocrisy. If you can't see that... well @ you

[Caligastia]

Originally posted by Sava
that's just it... he condemned his actions saying he's grown...

In that case, yes, he was being a hypocrite.

[Sava]

I now you again Cali!

[Caligastia]

[Japher]

Missed ya Cali!

I still find it funny that Bennett has been giving this money, or gambling it away, to people and an industry which is know to be built on drug money... To me this is a big deal, since he was the drug czar.